Curlew numbers delay new holiday park approval

The RSPB said the curlew is the largest European wading bird, found on estuaries in winter and moors in summer

The building of a new holiday park and retirement village may not go ahead due to an increased number of curlews near the proposed site.

Tendring District Council had approved an 81-acre development at Lower Farm in Brightlingsea in Essex, but the scheme has doubled in size, so new permission is required.

Land nearby had been home to an estimated 23 curlews, but the scheme would only progress if Natural England were happy now that 35 of the wading birds had been counted in the area, the council said.

Artemis, which owns the park, said an expansion would help the local economy.

'Disturbance'

Full planning permission was given in March 2021 for 36 retirement apartments, five detached farmstead houses and a lodge or clubhouse serving 104 timber holiday lodges at the Robinson Road site.

A revised plans could see an extra 186 bedrooms with larger holiday lodges and two new lakes.

The RSPB said the proposed building layout "appears to leave little room for undisturbed grassland or wetland areas".

"Although the lakes are retained, the area would be covered by buildings and paths, and disturbance would remove biodiverse habitat, rendering the site unsuitable for Curlew and other shy species," the bird conservation charity said.

Essex Wildlife Trust said the site provided an important resource for wintering bird species which also included gadwall, meadow pipit, tawny owl, woodcock, black-headed gull, and mallard, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

John Pateman-Gee, head of planning at the council, told councillors that if Natural England's response was negative "we would obviously return to yourselves in due course".

A spokesman for Artemis said the original development did not go far enough and the expansion would provide more jobs and "form strong links with local businesses".

It said that it was "confident" the enhanced offering would be more attractive to tourists.